Improve lateral movement along the baseline with this conditioning drill. Your coach quickly feeds balls from across the service line to move your player back and forth and side to side within his service box.
Encourage aggressive baseline play and smart shot selection using competitive games as a means of honing players’ skills. Consider trying this drill with a partner for maximum intensity!
1. Volley vs. Groundstroke Drill
One of the essential skills in tennis is being able to quickly transition between baseline and net, and this drill is an ideal way to practice this. Furthermore, it will help strengthen your footwork so you can reach the net with ease. As one player stands on the baseline and another at the center mark of the service line (i.e. “T”) that connects all four boxes, this exercise can be accomplished. At the service line, one person should rush close enough to the net to touch the ball with their racket before having someone from the baseline feed them a lob. At the net, someone should practice catching the lob and turning it into a winner – repeat this drill five to 10 times before switching roles so both players have time to practice their lobs.
This drill can help players hone their forehand volleys, both singles and doubles players alike. To carry out this exercise, place one player on either side of the net with another standing opposite them on opposite sides. One should hit a hard groundstroke straight at their partner while hitting an easy high volley back from their opponent who will then return an easy high volley back at them; one player on each side should then attack this volley with a smash before rotating back onto their respective backhand sides and repeat this exercise until complete!
Use this drill to practice hitting various shots, or compete against your partner to see who can hit more targets in an set. This drill helps develop accuracy and control in any type of shot.
Add an extra challenge by forcing both players to start each point from the point down 0–15 or 0-30, simulating real match situations and increasing pressure on both. This will force both to focus on every point while honing their ability to react under pressure.
2. Double Match Line Drill
This classic tennis baseline drill for improving quick transition between offense and defense increases players’ agility in quick transition between both positions. Players line up in one of the service boxes while their coach stands on the opposite side holding a basket of balls; tossing balls both left and right of each player causes them to move around rapidly on court quickly, hit drop shots quickly, backpedal back to their original starting position on center service line, learn how to handle lobs/overhead smashes better as well as strengthen footwork skills around net.
This tennis drill’s goal is to develop consistent and accurate groundstrokes from both forehand and backhand players. Two players participate, with their coach standing in the center of a service box on either side of the net. He or she then tosses balls onto both players’ forehand and backhand players and requires them to hit them without it bouncing more than once; repeat this process on each side until all groundstrokes continue without more than one bounce from ball-to-hand contact between sessions – while moving from player- to player- controlled practice sessions!
To build a powerful forehand, players must improve their grip, footwork and timing. To assist players in honing these skills, this tennis drill for the forehand uses a figure eight cone setup to enhance lateral quickness and changes of direction. Players must perform cross-steps combined with split steps and side steps across the court in quick movements similar to what would occur during baseline rallies.
This tennis forehand drill focuses on developing players’ quick reactions. A coach tosses balls along the service line horizontally, forcing the player to either immediately volley or groundstroke depending on what sound they hear. This drill can especially benefit beginner tennis players who often make errors by hitting groundstrokes instead of sprinting towards the net for volleys.
Advanced players require the ability to read their opponents and predict where they’ll hit the ball for an effective doubles game. A drill known as the jail game can help players improve these abilities by restricting options to winning shots and narrowing options down.
3. Circle Serve Drill
The Circle Serve Drill is an effective tennis exercise designed to develop baseline groundstrokes and volley game. The drill focuses on getting feet into position quickly to hit a groundstroke, hitting deep with consistency to close out a point quickly, improving footwork agility while forcing lateral movement of players on court while hitting groundstrokes.
To conduct this drill, a player should begin by standing at the center mark of one service box while their coach stands near or on the opposite baseline with a basket full of balls. When instructed by their coach, they should either volley or groundstroke, depending on which direction their coach decides on for that round of shots. By constantly switching up directions of balls so their player can practice moving in different ways, this drill allows players to practice moving differently across courts and get in some quality practice time without injury.
Although not as complex as other drills on this list, including basic return tennis drill into your practice routine is still highly beneficial. This drill can help improve balance, positioning and anticipation on court while forcing you to react swiftly when facing your opponent’s lobs or crosscourt forehands.
This tennis drill is similar to the double match line drill but without a net. A player begins this tennis drill by starting with their coach in the center of a circle and running in opposite directions; they then hit back-and-forth to each other while trying only once to hit each ball; ultimately this drill helps develop accuracy and speed.
Another effective tennis drill to include in your practice routine is the figure-eight cone drill. To perform it, players should arrange two cones in a figure-eight formation along the baseline and move laterally between them in a zig-zag pattern to improve quick changes of direction and footwork, as well as increase lateral movement, which is essential in such fast-paced sports as tennis.
4. Baseline Drill
Tennis mastery may take time and practice, but with consistent and deliberate efforts players can elevate their baseline game and improve various elements such as footwork, groundstrokes and defensive skills. With appropriate drills players can improve these elements significantly.
This tennis drill can add variety and strengthen footwork and hand-eye coordination during practice sessions. Simply pair players together and compete for points while hitting tennis balls back and forth across the court – each player attempting to hit each ball onto either their opponent’s forehand or backhand side as close as possible to the baseline; any crosscourt hits result in points lost. After a set number of turns have passed, switch roles and repeat.
Limit the amount of time between shots to increase competition during this tennis drill and help your players make quicker decisions about how they want to play their next shot and improve their reaction times. Furthermore, this drill can be performed on different surfaces so as to simulate different match scenarios and prepare players for various playing conditions.
At this drill, one player stands on the tennis court’s baseline while the other stands near its service line. Their coach then feeds balls as they move forward and backward within their service box, forcing them to split step quickly to change direction while developing lateral movement along their baseline. To add another layer of difficulty to this drill, coach could restrict how often or which balls lob or overhead them so as to develop their lateral quickness further.
Tennis players who combine proper training routine and mindset with appropriate mindset exercises can unleash their full potential, improve their game and reach new heights in their chosen sport. By including top tennis drills for improving baseline game into their training regimen, tennis players can take their game to new levels regardless of competition or conditions.